TTRPG Design Project Templates

This is the basic project structure we use when starting a new game. No frills, just the raw tools and setup we use ourselves. 

We use Google Drive and Affinity software for all our design work, and that's what this structure is set up for. However, we've included a .pdf exports of our .afpub files, so they're more compatible with software like InDesign and other layout software.

The zip file includes:

• The full folder structure we use when starting a project.
• ProjectName.gdoc - A writing template with basic headers and our in-line project management method.
  • We use this for our core writing, collaboration, editing, and project management.
• ProjectName.afpub - A basic A5 zine layout setup for print, with basic master pages configured, page numbers, CMYK color profile, margins, and bleed.
  • We don't like baseline or grids by default. They're not configured in this file.
• Images Folder - We store all game export images here. Such Page or Spread exports, marketing images we've assembled, etc. We don't store images that will be imported into the game here. That's in Resources.
• Images/Itchio_Socials_Template.afpub - This template has all of our common needed image sizes setup for marketing and setup of our itchio project pages.
• PDFs Folder - This is where we export PDFs to. Final PDFs ready for upload go into "Itchio Final" and Print-Ready PDFs are uploaded to "Mixam Final".
  • We work really hard to only keep the most current PDFs in the two "Final" folders. If you want a v2, v3, or v1.2.222.final.v8.pdf in the main folder, that's fine. But I highly encourage you to spend the time to keep the "Final" folders clean.
  • Tip: Check out the "Manage Versions" feature in Google Drive. 
• Press Kit Folder - Contains our press kit gdoc template, an assets folder, and another PDF folder.  We end up sharing this entire folder out for Press, and link to this folder within the Press Kit document itself.
  • If you want more information how to write a Press Kit, check out PlusOneExp's fantastic video on that.
• Resources Folder - This is where we put inspirations for the game along with art and design assets to use in the game itself. This folder gets pretty messy by the time the project is done.

Full Folder Structure

PROJECT TEMPLATE/
├─ Images/
│  ├─ Game Pages/
│  ├─ Game Spreads/
│  ├─ Marketing/
│  │   ├─ Crowdfunding/
│  │   ├─ Instagram/
│  │   ├─ Itchio/
│  │   ├─ Mockups/
│  │   ├─ Stores/
│  │   ├─ Twitter/
│  ├─ Itchio_Socials_Template.afpub
│  ├─ Itchio_Socials_Template.pdf
├─ PDFs/
│  ├─ Itchio Final/
│  ├─ Mixam Final/
├─ Press Kit/
│  ├─ Assets/
│  ├─ PDFs/
│  ├─ ProjectName - Press Kit.gdoc
├─ Resources/
│  ├─ Assets/
│  ├─ Inspiration/
├─ ProjectName.afpub
├─ ProjectName.gdoc
├─ ProjectName.pdf

But This May Not Work for You.

How we set up our projects may or may not work for you! Please don't hesitate to tweak the process, folders, and organization as you see fit. Make it work for you. Would you rather use Notion to design? Prefer working in Obsidian and markdown files? Use Trello for project management? Or a myriad of other tools instead of this? Go for it! That's okay!

But this is what works for us after completing 9 game projects and working with 15+ creators, and we thought we'd share.